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Nathalion Dawnstrider
A correction to the unrelated edit This character is not yours. Birth of a Blood Knight In the lush forests of Quel'Thalas, seventy years before the second war Nathalion Dawnstrider, son of the middle-upperclass citizens Delaralion and Eldirina Dawnstrider and brother to Delaranth, was born in the village of Fairbreeze. His father, Delaralion, son of a trader and his wife, was a simple ranger of the farstriders. As he was made crippled during an unsuccessful ambush upon the amani troll, he soon made it his duty to mold his two sons into what he no longer could become; a warrior of such prestige that they would eventually be able to wash away the stamp of mere traders that his ancestry had cursed him with through generations of ancestors amongst the trading profession. During this strained childhood Nathalion continuesly pushed himself to live up to his fathers high standards. There were two types of people in the world, his father often stated, those whom succeed and those whom does not. At times, he would send the two boys out into the lands not to return till a few days later. This was done on mutiple occations to ensure that they would both one day grow up to become highly skilled archers and trackers of the Farstriders. Delaranth showed promise from the very beginning, and soon became a prominent youngling both in the ways of archery and tracking. Nathalion, however, was not very proficient. More often then not was he forced to plead to his brother for aid during their long treks in the wilds, both to survive and to return with proof of his 'achievements' during their time away. Of course, it soon became obvious to the father that Nathalion had no destiny as a farstrider, his aim with the bow was dispeakable and he all too often found himself lost in the wilds without any sense of direction. ...Failure? Desperate to gain his fathers approval Nathalion trained day and night with the help of his brother to get better, regardless, he never managed to master it in the same way as Delaranth. After months of training, this realization eventually dawned upon the boy as well - he would never become a ranger. Distraught by this he searched for another art, something he could become just as skilled at as Delaranth was with his bow. Eventually, he resorted to close-combat, something he discovered he had some aptitude for. He trained long and hard at this, his experience with blades was lacking, as was the teachings he could receive on the subject. Despite his enthusiastic training it did not elevate his standings amongst the father. "A swordsman has no chance against a skilled ranger, he will be shot down before he is close enough to attack." His father was right, Nathalion knew as much. In response to those words he sought to learn how to properly wield a shield along with his sword. He spent many hours of training, using a wooden shield borrowed from his 'uncle's' mercantile goods. After several years it became appearant to this yet very young male that he would not be able to advance further on his own, thus, he left for Silvermoon after receiving his parents blessing and a small pouch of coins to continue his training under the guards of the capital. The second war: 'Duty before all' Long did the training proceed for Nathalion and other younglings training to one day defend their glorious capital in the name of the King. As the youngest of the recruits he never quite managed to become accepted into the group amongst the other older, and thus naturally stronger, initiates. Ultimately Nathalion became a loner, focusing only on his training as there was little in the capital other then his future in the guard that he had to focus on. As the years passed Nathalion, despite being under-aged, finished his training in the guard and was soon assigned a post within the city. This was a dull time in his life with, much to his annoyance, little in the ways of improvement. During this time he became more dedicated to communicating with his family back home, which was done via letters. His father seemed to have taken notice of his position in the capital, yet he was largely focused upon his brothers initiation into the Farstrider conclave. Having passed with flying colours, it was obvious to everyone that a promotion was soon to come. During this time the southern parts of the Eastern Kingdoms were ablaze, the orcish horde had begun their rampage throughout the human lands. Once word finally reached Silvermoon tension stirred within the capital. A threat had risen in far down south. However, it did not affect the life of the High elf's, Nathalion in perticular, till the news of the amani and the hordes alliances reached them. In an instance, the entier army begun mobilizing. For Nathalion, this was the opportunity he had waited for, a chance to prove himself in real combat. As one of the first to report he was soon rejected, he was too young to fight in a large scale battle, or any battle for that sake. Instead he and the lesser of the guards, both in skill and rank, were stationed inside of the capital to guard it in the others stead. Not very unexpectedly his brother, on the other hand, was called out to fight in the war with the other rangers to support the armies. The fall of Quel'Thalas Peace and prosperity once again settled upon the verdant lands of Quel'thalas. The horde was defeated for good and the amani had crumbled with them, there were no enemies left to threaten the High Elf's. For fifteen years serenity ruled and the people thrived under the rule of their king. However, word soon came from the southern borders, news of armies of marshing corpses were closing in on the capital shattering through the many barriers that shielded the city. The entier region was in a state of panic, once more were the armies amassed under the sole command of Ranger-General Windrunner in a desperate effort to save the city. But when the news reached Silvermoon it was already too late, the Farstriders were all but decimated and Sylvanas slain with them. Having heard that what was left of the rangers had gathered in the capital Nathalion swiftly sought the surivivors out. As he found that his brother was one of the few who had managed to retreat in time he was overjoyed, though the joy was shortlived. Valiantly, what remained of the high elven army had gathered at the gates in a last desperate defense. However, it was not long before they were overrunned and the scourge crusade poured through Silvermoon as unrelenting as a tidal wave. The body of Nathalion was found during a search throughout the remenants of the city once the scourge forces had left, which they had done just as swifly as they had arrived. Greviously wounded the healers managed to mend him to a point of recovery. He had surivived, but barely. His brother, however, was nowhere to be found. A shattered people, the few high elves that were still alive were all but broken. A emptiness beyond words had settled down upon them, draining them even to the point of physical weakness. With the king dead and merely a fraction of his people alive Nathalion had taken refuge in one of the many camps that had been established along the cost. Long did he search for any family or friends that perhaps could have surivived the annihilation of their kin but none were to be found, not even his brother. A Knight Dawns and the Raise of the Blood Elves For months the high elves were lost and at the mercy of the lands they had controlled for so long. When times seemed as the worst, with many dying from diseases none had ever seen before and the general weakness taking a hold of every living individual the prince returned. Under the leadership of Kael'thas - the last of the Sunstriders, the elven race took a new name, blood elves. Under this name they all rejoined the alliance in order to safeguard their future as a race. Nathalion shared the same drained feeling with that of the other of his kin, yet, with their prince to command them they all pressed on into the alliance lands of Lordaeron where those whom were able to fight joined the human army under the command of Grand Marshal Garithos. Nathalion personally took part in many missions issued by the human command. Often he found himself executing tasks far below his dignity as a warrior and at other times, in the midst of enemy hordes, ordered to preform a task close to impossible. Heavy casulties and embitterment tormented the blood elves during this era. As a man of the people, even the prince himself felt and shared the common feeling towards these humans. Being one of the few to have surivived this far, Nathalion took part in a defensive mission on the home-front. Despite the strain and frailty of body he and and those others of his kin amongst the elven war-band were warriors at heart. Once they were informed that they were to guard peasants and workers while they preformed the repairs upon old and worn observatories they were infuriated. Yet, calmed by their prince the task was preformed with little difficulty and they prepared to move towards the front. Once the Grand Marshal later returned he acknowledged the elves for their preformance, yet little other proof of gratefulness were presented. Nathalion, as well as the others of the small blood elven army took the time to rest, knowing it was best to prepare no matter what task they were to do. Though none of them had any higher hopes of what were to happen, an emissary arrived after days passed and alerted them of that an undead threat was amassing and they were left to defend the entier region from the scourge hordes. Having finally received a task they found worthy, the elves were mildly pleased by this. Yet a war was a war, and it was never pleasant. However, that was not what the authorities had in mind, as Nathalion along with the majority of his comrades were commanded to journey with the emissary to the front. Reluctantly they parted ways with their beloved prince and embarked on a voyage into the Plaguelands, now under direct command of the Grand Marshal. If the time before was bad, this was hell in comparison. On a daily basis the elven soldiers were sent into battle as 'decoy' or 'distraction' often with the main army arriving long after the appointed time which led to devasting losses for the blood elven platoon. After months spent under in-human and deeply degrading living conditions where they were considered as little more then meat-shields, there were but a fourth of the men that originally arrived left alive. Having managed to survive so far, Nathalion had developed an immense burning hatred for the human-kind, one that he barely managed to supress during his time there. After some time away from the front, the commander - Garithos, soon returned, ordering that all but the most high ranked of blood elves were to be executed for treason. Those of considerable rank would be transported elsewhere, for reasons unknown at the time. This was of course kept a secret from the elves until the time to sieze them had come. During the general disorientation of the arresting, Nathalion and a few others managed to flee from the armies encampment. A desperate attempt to save several others of those put to be hanged were made but to little effort as this had been expected by the humans. With a good portion of the surivivors wounded, some worse then others, Nathalion and the others that had succefully fled made a forlorn effort to reach the camps where they had become separated from their prince. Once they gone the long distance between the two camps, with several of their soldiers dying from wounds, starvation or infections they came upon what was left of the blood elven camp. Now controlled by a sickening gathering of humans and undead alike, Nathalion, and what remained of the group apart from him, were astounded. Never had they expected anything such as what they now saw. Confused by the thought and filled with anguish of what might have happened to their prince and those whom had stayed with him they circulated around the camp and proceeded to the north and back into Quel'Thalas. Once they arrived at the camps of those whom had stayed behind, those unwilling or unable to fight with the rest, they shared their story with the others. Yet this small group of now only three surivivors were disregarded. Most assumed it was an hallucination caused by the sicknesses and infections that had killed so many of them only during their voyage back into their homeland. None of the survivors spoke of the fate that had befallen their friends and comrades, and perhaps even their prince, believing such news would be too much to bare for the already struggling blood elves. A Joining in Blood and the Ressurection of a Kingdom Nathalion remained with the remaining survivors and citizens remained in the shattred crust of Quel'thalas. For reasons he did not know for certain, but feared to ponder deeper, no news from the Prince had reached them. Yet, as one of the few soldiers in the camp they made occational attempts to raise the morale, despite the fact that doubts were starting to overwhelm them as well. When they believed all hope was gone, and even the most stoic of blood elves had lost heart a portal had opened through which the Grand Magister (Romath at the time) had stepped forth followed by a vast amount of their fellow kin. The Magister confirmed that the Prince was yet alive, and that the kingdom was far from fallen, that they all were to aid him and the other mages in rebuilding the tarnished remains of their capital as ordered by Kael'thas. What was also brought from the distant world the new arrivals described were ominous green crystals that emitted a strange pulse of magic, one which a few recognised as fel. It was confirmed that the crystals did indeed contain fel, but that the powers inside of the shards were sufficent to mend the agonizing emptiness that had ached in them for so long. This unveiling caused a fracture in the once united people, some agreed with what was said to them, that the fel energy was only a temporair substitute for the energies of the Sunwell. Once it was rebuild, it would no longer be needed - besides, how dangerous could it be? Others were deeply resentful to the mere suggestion of this, saying that if they had lasted this long they could very well continue to live a life without the constant flow of mana. Despite their minor count, this rejectful group departed from the others, forever leaving Quel'Thalas to take up refuge in other places away from the "growing fel taint". Nathalion, however, was not concerned by the argue. For him, it was not a matter of fel magic or not, it was a matter of loyalty, and that very loyalty forbade him from leaving his people and their lands just as it had during the past time. He did, however, decline his "supply" of fel, stating that it was of better use with other people than himself. During the rebuilt of the broken city a new transport came from the distant land, where it was said that a few kingdom had been founded, containing a creature of the likes none of them had ever seen: It appeared to consist of several crystaline fragments held together by an invisible force. The fragments would move, occationally, as the creature levitated through the streets. For reasons it would seem none were able to explain, or offered to, a noice sounded from the entity, a noice which resembled the sound of glass gently tingling against glass to form a gloomy anguished tune. As this attracted the attention of many, the district where the creature was to be held was soon sealed off and only a selected count of magisters were permitted passage. As one of the guards, Nathalion was instructed to stand guard by the gate to assure that only those allowed passed through. The days shifted and it would seem that whatever the creature was it was enough to keep the magistrate preoccupied. Until one day, the district was reopened for the public and all were ordered to gather at the plaza in the middle of the area. It was said that the strange being's powers had been unlocked at the hands of the magistrate, and that they requested willing subjects to go through a process which would, if successful, bring the long thought lost light back to the blood elves. One of the first to step forward for the trial was Liadrin, and once she had proven that the procedure was possible more decided to go through with it as well, Nathalion being one of them. Category:Characters